Los Mandados

The Errands

Los Mandados

I swam across the big riverCruzé el río grande nadando
Not giving a damn about two bucksSin importarme dos riares
The border patrol kicked me outMe echo la migra pa'fuera
And I ended up in NogalesY fui a caer a Nogales
I crossed through another borderEntre por otra frontera
And they tossed me to JuárezY que me avientan pa' Juárez

From there I headed to TamaulipasDe ahí me fui a Tamaulipas
And snuck in through LaredoY me colé por Laredo
I dressed up like a gringoMe disfrazé de gabacho
And dyed my hair blondeY me pinté el pelo güero
And since I didn’t speak EnglishY como no hablaba ingles
They sent me back againQue me retachan de nuevo

The border patrol caught meLa migra a mí me agarró
Three hundred times, let’s sayTrescientes veces digamos
But they never broke mePero jamás me domó
They just did my errandsA mí me hizo los mandados
The hits they gave meLos golpes que a mí me dio
I made sure to collect from their folksSe los cobré a sus paisanos

I entered through MexicaliPor mexicali yo entré
And came out at the Colorado RiverY salí a río Colorado
I crossed all the linesTodas las lineas cruzé
Smuggling and soaking wetDe contrabando y mojado
But I never backed downPero jamás me rajé
I went back and forth to the other sideIba y venia al otro lado

I know all the linesConozco todas las lineas
The roads, rivers, and canalsCaminos, rios y canales
From Tijuana to ReynosaDesde Tijuana a Reinosa
From Matamoros to JuárezDe Matamoros a Juárez
From Piedras Negras to El PasoDe piedras negras al Paso
And from Agua Prieta to NogalesY de agua prieta a Nogales

The border patrol caught meLa migra a mí me agarró
Three hundred times, let’s sayTrescientes veces digamos
But they never broke mePero jamás me domó
They just did my errandsA mí me hizo los mandados
The hits they gave meLos golpes que a mí me dio
I made sure to collect from their folksSe los cobré a sus paisanos